Sympathy and Understanding
by DarkAngelLillith
Summary: In the middle of a battle, Rumble got injured. Only Frenzy is able to get to his side, but he has no medical knowledge. Discoveries are made and unexpected help arrives.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own them.

**A/N:** Like always, any mistakes you find and tell me about will be fixed as soon as possible. Hope you like it! And don't hesitate to tell me what you think about it.

**"bold"** - comm

_'italics' _- thinking

"normal" - talking

line - change of setting/time skip

* * *

_**Sympathy and Understanding**_

Rumble was dying. Frenzy could feel it and the Cassetticon left what he was doing to look for him. He was glad that his size allowed him to move quickly around the battlefield. He couldn't help Frenzy if he got stuck fighting an Autobot. His brothers were all inside Soundwave and the blue mech was busy fighting off Ironhide and Blaster at the same time. He was so busy searching for his brother that he never noticed the red mech locking his sight on him.

"**Hang on, Rumble. I'm coming. Everything will be fine. Soundwave will get us soon**," his private comm was not answered. Instead the coldness in his spark retreated a little bit. Frenzy didn't know if that was good or bad, but he finally made it out of the battlefield.

He surveyed the ruins quickly. The place used to be a laboratory two hours ago, now all that remained was rubble and a few walls too stubborn to fall down. The small mech hurried to check the places his brother could've run for cover.

'_No. No.. Not there. Or there. Oh… Oh, Rumble…'_

Visor brightened in apprehension as he ran to his brother's side. He scanned the unconscious form and couldn't suppress a small wail as he read the results. He had no real medical training. None of them did. All he'd learned came from watching Soundwave. That wasn't enough.

He cradled his brother tightly another little mournful wail escaping him. There was a groaning sound as the injured mech's visor onlined. Red visor glowed bright pink due to shock.

"Rumble!" Frenzy exclaimed, clutching the body tighter and earning another groan for his actions, "Hold on! Soundwave should be done fighting and he'll come. He'll come and save you. You'll see. You'll be good as new in no time and I'll be able to kick your aft for scaring me like this. Hang on, bro"

"…zy… cold," was the reply he got.

"I know, just hang on. I'm here and you're not alone."

"Never alone…" was the whispered reply as energon stained hands moved slowly to touch Frenzy. The movement was too much for the injured cassette and the hand dropped down halfway.

"That's right! Never alone, bro," Frenzy grabbed his brother's hands, "And I know it's cold, but you aren't allowed to leave me. Wherever you go, I go. So, hang on, please?"

"Think… Think we… we'll die… together?" And there was a hint of fear in the whispered voice. Fingers tightened in their hold and Frenzy was dismayed at the coldness seeping into his spark. Unknown to either cassette, Frenzy's visor was slowly getting brighter and turning pink as he slowly went into shock.

"Course, bro. We're one, bro. Last twins and all that. You're not getting rid of me," Frenzy smiled sadly as he heard Rumble choking on his own energon when he tried to chuckle, "Stop talking about death. We ain't gonna die today. We still have to get Skywarp back from that prank."

"And… and paint Motormaster's… quarters lime green," Rumble continued what they both knew was a lie. The battle was still going strong and no one was coming yet. He was so cold and it was so hard to keep on talking. But he didn't want to worry Frenzy.

Something moved to his right and Frenzy turned to look. Vaguely hoping that it was Ravage. He never had the chance to see what it was. He had enough time to register twin flashes of red and gold and then nothing.

* * *

Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Ratchet stood in Optimus Prime's office. The commander looked at them in silence, noticing that for the first time ever the twins were acting nervous. In fact, Ratchet looked more comfortable than they did and he was the one in more trouble.

"So," he began, standing in front of them, hands clasped behind his back, "You came here to inform me that you aided the enemy by performing repairs to the cassettes known as Rumble and Frenzy?"

The three mechs in front of him nodded.

"And you didn't bring them back as prisoners because?" Prime continued.

"Soundwave took them, Sir," Sideswipe answered sheepishly. And Prime nodded again.

"Will they recover?" he asked looking at the medic, who simply shrugged.

"Frenzy should be fine as long Rumble is repaired. I did all I could at the time and, as long as their medic doesn't slag up what I've done, he should be making a complete recovery," Ratchet answered and Prime nodded again.

"Well, let's see..." Prime said, sitting behind his desk, "Two weeks of helping Ratchet in his medbay. That should be punishment enough for you three."

Both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe shot offended stares at Ratchet, who was the only one clearly opposed to the idea. Optimus ignored the medic's look of murder knowing he'd suffer for it on his next check up.

"Off the record, I'm proud of you. I'll admit that in helping those two we lost a good opportunity to cripple Soundwave, but you did what you thought was right. Saved instead of kill. Maybe they'll see it that way too," the truck sighed and shook his head, "Well, I hope you enjoy two weeks of molesting Ratchet in his own medbay. Now go and try not to destroy the Ark."

"Yes, Sir," The twins replied in unison, saluted and left quickly. Matching grins on their faces. Ratchet remained behind with an odd look on his face.

"You really don't mind?"

"Ratchet, what you do in your personal life is of no importance to me. Though if you want my opinion," Optimus paused for a klik as if thinking, smiling wide behind his facemask and optics bright with amusement, "I truly do not know what to tell you. I was never into kinks, old friend."

Ratchet's face was worth every credit and hit with a wrench he will receive for the next hundred vorns. Amazing how the ambulance held his tongue in check. Cycling air through vents to calm himself. Optimus was sure he was going to get killed when he lost it and started laughing.

"Are you done, oh mighty leader?" Ratchet drawled, "Because if you are not I'll keep my findings on the cassettes for myself."

Optimus composed himself as soon as he heard those words, "I'm listening."

"Good," the medic said, while making his way to Prime's private energon dispenser and pouring two cubes. He handed one to Prime and took a seat in front of Prime's desk. Ratchet only earned a raised optic ridge for his antics.

"This better be good, Ratchet."

"Oh, it is," Ratchet took a sip from the cube, "It appears that our information regarding twins is outdated. Though the theory regarding a twin's death appears to have been proven right. Frenzy had only minor injuries, but his spark was already in shock by the time Sideswipe all but dragged me there. Rumble on the other hand was a mess. Main fuel lines broken in several places, vents flooded, hydraulics shot to hell, same as his transformation cog. A breem later and he would've entered permanent stasis. Frenzy would have followed him short after, if not at the same time."

"You mean?" Prime's optics brightened and he took a large swig from his cube, "Primus…"

Ratchet drank a little slower and nodded, "Our two hellions are not the last twins, Prime. I saw Rumble's split spark when I was working with him. I couldn't believe it even when I was seeing it."

"Think there are more like them, Ratchet?" Optimus asked and Ratchet shrugged.

"After this, I have no idea. Twins are rare enough that we believed Sunstreaker and Sideswipe to be the last. All known twins were problematic and antisocial. All of them were thought to have been killed at the beginning of the war because of it. This… This is amazing!"

"That it is my friend," Optimus took a small sip from his cube and suddenly looked at the medic, who could detect the mischief coming from the red mech.

"I don't know if I should laugh or feel sorry for Megatron."

He ignored Ratchet's odd look while he finished his cube before continuing, "At least our twins can't hide in the vents."

* * *

Edited: 1/22/09


End file.
